Caroline Anne "Carrie" Mathison (born April 5, 1979) is a former operations officer working for the Central Intelligence Agency. She is obsessively hunting down a terrorist named Abu Nazir, whom she suspects turned Nick Brody, an American prisoner of war, against his country.

Background

Carrie joined the CIA on August 1, 1999, and was recruited, trained, and placed in the field by CIA veteran Saul Berenson, with whom she continues to have a close working relationship. It is suggested that at some point she had a personal relationship with David Estes, who was her boss, which led the breakup of his marriage. From the age of 22 she has been dealing with bipolar disorder, which is why she secretly takes an antipsychotic medication named clozapine. She also takes Lithium and clonazepam . She also has a history of alcoholism.

"An American POW has been turned."

Working as a case officer for the CIA in Iraq, she met with Hasan Ibrahim who claimed to have intel about an attack Abu Nazir is planning against the United States. Shortly before Hasan's execution, she sneaked into his prison where he said that "an American POW has been turned". Sneaking into a prison like this caused a diplomatic incident, which led to her boss, David Estes, placing her in the "penalty box" (behind a desk at Langley).

Ten months later, when an American POW named Sgt. Nick Brody is discovered alive after missing for eight years, Carrie suspects that he is the POW Hasan referred to. After Saul doesn't approve of placing surveillance on Brody, Carrie illegally starts surveilling him anyway with the help of Virgil. She got into Nick's CIA debriefing, where she attempted to link him to Abu Nazir, however he denied ever meeting the man. Saul discovered her illegal surveillance but gave tacit approval when she later discovered that Nick tapped his fingers in a repeated pattern in televised appearances; apparently a coded message.

Personal Life and Relationships

Carrie became obsessed with Brody; convinced that he was the POW that Hasan Ibrahim said had been turned. She had his home under constant video and audio surveillance, watching him for weeks. When the surveillance was pulled she approached him and made personal contact. She eventually began a short lived affair with him. Brody found out that she had been investigating him and ended the affair, she was devastated and tried on several occasions to make up with him.

After his death, Carrie gave birth to his daughter Frannie and left her with her sister Maggie to raise as she copes with his death and her ability to become a mother, while working overseas.

Carrie and Quinn finally shared their first kiss after her father's funeral. After moving to Berlin to work, Quinn was tasked with killing Carrie but failed to do so. He was later taken hostage by a group of jihadists who intended to release sarin gas in Berlin Hauptbahnhof and used him as their test subject. This led to him slipping into a coma but Carrie refused to allow him to be taken off life support.

He was taken back to Brooklyn and placed in a military hospital, now suffering from PTSD. After freaking out in front of the medical staff, Carrie took him home with her and gave him the room in her basement. She also asked Max to keep an eye on him while she worked but he suffered a seizure when out at the shops. He later tried to keep the authorities away from the house in order to protect Frannie, who was later placed in foster care by CPS. Following a tip-off about an imminent attack against President-elect Elizabeth Keane, he managed to save both her and Carrie but died in a hail of bullets.

Notes

From the initial conception of the character, Gordon and Gansa targeted Claire Danes to play the lead role of Carrie Mathison.